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US IS NOT YOUR XINJIANG PROVINCE OR NEPAL FOR YOU TO ENGAGE IN TERROR AGAINST ONE...FOR THAT MATTER IT APPEARS, YOU DO HAVE TO WAIT FOR RETURN OF TRUMPCHI https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/08/trumpchi-gs5-has-parts-from-fiatalfa.html....
Taiwan: Two US warships sail through strait
US 7TH FLEETTwo US warships are passing through the Taiwan Strait, the US Navy has announced.
It is the first such operation to take place since tensions between Taiwan and China increased following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan earlier this month.
China reacted by holding large-scale military drills in the area.
The US and other Western navies have routinely sailed through the strait in recent years.
Washington says the two guided-missile cruisers - the USS Antietam and the USS Chancellorsville - are demonstrating freedom of navigation through international waters.
Beijing views such actions as provocative and maintains that the island of Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory.
On Sunday, its military said it was monitoring the two vessels' progress, maintaining a high alert, and was ready to defeat any provocation, Reuters news agency reports.
"These ships transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state," the statement added.
Taiwan's defence ministry said the ships were sailing in a southerly direction and that its forces were observing, but that "the situation was as normal".
Taiwan is self-ruled, but China sees it as a breakaway province with which it will eventually unite, with force if necessary.
Taiwan has become yet another flashpoint between Washington and Beijing in recent years, with the US walking a diplomatic tightrope on the issue.
The US abides by the "One China" policy - a cornerstone of the two countries' diplomatic relationship which recognises only one Chinese government - and has formal ties with Beijing and not Taiwan.
But it also maintains a "robust unofficial" relationship with the island. That includes selling weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.
US confirms that Taiwan Strait is 'international waterway'
Contradicts claim it is part of China's so-called 'exclusive economic zone'
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As China continues to push forward its agenda and claim dominion over the Taiwan Strait, the United States has confirmed that it views the waters as "international" and clear for freedom of navigation and overflight.
China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) has recently been claiming that international law does not apply to the strait because it belongs to China. Furthermore, "There is no such thing as international waters in international maritime law."
He made the statement despite China being a signatory to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Also, in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague categorically threw out China's claim that the Taiwan Strait and much of the South China Sea is part of its "exclusive economic zone."
In response, according to a Bloomberg article on Sunday (June 19) citing "people familiar with the matter," the Biden administration will continue to firmly reject such a notion.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price was quoted as saying: “The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway ... guaranteed under international law ... The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait.”
Though the U.S. is not a signatory to UNCLOS, it does back its validity by referring to an international "rules-based order."
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world's most important shipping lanes. Bloomberg added that U.S. warships have transited the Taiwan Strait about once a month since 2020, with "at least five transits this year.
END OF THE ARTICLE
Leather Coats for Secret Service Stir Memories of 1930s Purges
A state tender by the Federal Guard Service for 60 long black leather coats has created a storm in cyberspace, with bloggers complaining that the clothing stirs up bad memories of Stalinist henchmen.
The order, which also includes 60 short black leather jackets, was placed last week and has a price tag of 2.9 million rubles ($104,000), according to Zakupki.gov.ru, the web site for state tenders.
The order description does not specify who or what the coats are intended for. But bloggers pointed out Thursday that they are a dead ringer for the attire of the NKVD secret service in the 1920s and 1930s. The observation was made by commenters on a LiveJournal blog that tracks state tenders, Zakupki-news, which is run by the first deputy editor of Forbes Russia, Alexander Malyutin.
The NKVD, which later transformed into the KGB, was a prime force in carrying out Stalinist purges in which more than 1 million "enemies of the people" died. An NKVD officer in a long black coat is a staple image of that era.
A Federal Guard Service spokesman said Thursday that the coats were in line with a 2010 Kremlin decree on law enforcement uniforms, Interfax reported.
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